Some women worry about the safety of traveling while pregnant, but just because you’re expecting doesn’t mean that you can’t go on vacation.  Although the middle of your pregnancy—weeks 14 through 28—is the best time to travel, women can travel safely until a few weeks before their due date in many cases.  Air travel is almost always safe for women with low-risk pregnancies.  Pregnant women should observe the same general precautions for air travel as ... [full story]

Michael McLandress has joined the Bend-La Pine Schools Facilities Development team as Construction Project Manager. A Certified Green Building Professional, McLandress brings more than 23 years of commercial, school and residential project management experience to the Schools.   Michael McLandress McLandress will lead many of the 197 community approved bond projects including the planning, design, development and construction of the new westside elementary school and additions to Cascade Middle School. A graduate of the University of Washington, ... [full story]

Oregon State police announced this morning that Highway 20E about 60 miles east of Bend near Hampton has reopened following a nearly six-hour closure prompted by a fire burning a semi-truck trailer loaded with cardboard.   Hwy. 20E about 60 miles east of Bend was shut down for hours when a trailer full of cardboard bound for recycling caught fire - OSP photos   According to a news release, a Kenworth truck towing a flatbed semi-trailer was traveling ... [full story]

Vehicle and pedestrian traffic in downtown Bend was closed for over four hours Wednesday evening while a bomb squad was called in to investigate a suspicious box covered in threatening written messages that was found on the sidewalk close to the Deschutes County Library. According to Bend Police Lt. Ken Stenkamp, officers responded to the sidewalk in front of the library at 601 NW Wall St. about 7:05 p.m., June 13, after a library patron ... [full story]

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday announced with sadness the death of “Koda”, a police dog who has served with the agency since February of this year.   A Belgian Malinois is a breed similar in appearance to a German Shepard. According to Captain Tim Edwards, Koda, a Belgian Malinois (pronounced MAL-in-wah), and his handler were off duty and visiting out of the area when the dog forced his way out of a portable kennel in ... [full story]

A 911 caller who reported a man with a gun – possibly a pellet gun – in a car across from a Bend elementary school prompted a brief lockdown Wednesday afternoon while police investigated.   Ensworth School, Bend-La Pine Schools photo About 2:45 p.m. June 13, Ensworth Elementary School at 2150 NE Daggett Lane was locked down for a little over 15 minutes after a citizen reported seeing the passenger in a black or dark-colored VW Jetta ... [full story]

A 16-year-old driver was airlifted to the hospital after her vehicle drifted onto the gravel shoulder of the roadway in Powell Butte early yesterday morning and flipped over, pinning her underneath, deputies reported. According to Crook County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. Jim Chapman, the driver, whose name was not released, was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle during the crash at 10208 NW Cornet Loop about 7:30 a.m., June 13. Crook County Ambulance medical ... [full story]

TEL AVIV, Israel - The Israeli Knesset Wednesday elected Shimon Peres to the mostly ceremonial post of president, pushing the scandal-tainted tenure of Moshe Katsav behind it. The 83-year-old former prime minister received 86 of 120 votes in a second round of secret balloting by the members of the Israeli Parliament after two other candidates withdrew, Voice of America reported. He will be sworn in July 15 to a seven-year term as Israel's ninth president. ... [full story]

An 18-year-old Prineville woman escaped serious injury when she swerved her pickup to avoid hitting a deer on O’Neil Highway in Crook County, Oregon Tuesday evening, deputies reported. Jenny Jones, 18, of Prineville was treated and released by paramedics at the scene of the accident near milepost 12 on O’Neil Highway about 9:30 p.m., Crook County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Seaney said. Jones told police she was driving east in a 1986 Nissan pickup when a ... [full story]

BAGHDAD - Six Sunni mosques were reported damaged Thursday despite pleas from Iraqi Shiite and Sunni politicians and clerics a day after a Shiite shrine was bombed. The attacks involved bombings and fires in Baghdad and southern Iraq after a Shiite shrine in Samara, 75 miles north of Baghdad was all but leveled by two explosions. In a televised plea for sectarian restraint from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki soon after the blast, he said allegations ... [full story]